Researching Song of the Day: "How Do You Want It" Tupac ft. K-Ci and JoJo (check it it out on our Rock With Us tab)Are you trying to choose between two or three shiny new ideas? Or maybe you aren't sure what you want to write about at all yet. If so, then hopefully this post will help you out. In a recent issue of the Writer magazine, a group of book editors got together to let us know what they want. The editors range from people at Hyperion who have worked with Cecily von Ziegesar and Dean Koontz, to people at Atria (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) who worked with Jodi Picoult (one of Pam's faves!).
We often do our own research on what the literary world is looking for next and we see many of the same answers presented in the article. In order to make this an easier read for our lovely readers, we decided to summarize the editors' responses by categories- non-fiction and fiction.
Here is what the non-fiction editors had to say:
What's hot now: Books about dogs and blogs...Sh-- My Dog Says anyone??? (Brenda, Copeland from Hyperion), celebrity memoirs, and humorous personal essays.
What is fading: Practical self-help, books by "celebutards" (Julie Grau, Spiegel & Grau)
How can writers gain an edge: Easy- they all say write the best manuscript you can...duh!
Here is what the fiction editors had to say (yes, I know this is what you really came here t
o read!)
What's hot right now: Vampires, still...the Stieg Larson types of books, novels set outside the US, but most agree that you should not follow any trends.
What's fading: Some of them hope that something will eventually replace vampires and zombies (We don't know about this, we're kinda feeling the zombies ;) ); some feel that answer is best left to fashion magazine editors!
How can writers gain an edge: Put forward fresh ideas, have a polished manuscript, edit the mess out of said manuscript, be willing to promote yourself (online presence etc.), and of course the # 1 response was GET. AN. AGENT.
There you have it, six pages of an article whittled down to this (hopefully helpful) post. Have you read anything recently that you would like to add? Who are some editors that you've had your eye on? They just might have been in this article and I can tell you specifically what they want. :)
What is fading: Practical self-help, books by "celebutards" (Julie Grau, Spiegel & Grau)
How can writers gain an edge: Easy- they all say write the best manuscript you can...duh!
Here is what the fiction editors had to say (yes, I know this is what you really came here t
o read!)What's hot right now: Vampires, still...the Stieg Larson types of books, novels set outside the US, but most agree that you should not follow any trends.
What's fading: Some of them hope that something will eventually replace vampires and zombies (We don't know about this, we're kinda feeling the zombies ;) ); some feel that answer is best left to fashion magazine editors!
How can writers gain an edge: Put forward fresh ideas, have a polished manuscript, edit the mess out of said manuscript, be willing to promote yourself (online presence etc.), and of course the # 1 response was GET. AN. AGENT.
There you have it, six pages of an article whittled down to this (hopefully helpful) post. Have you read anything recently that you would like to add? Who are some editors that you've had your eye on? They just might have been in this article and I can tell you specifically what they want. :)
4 comments:
LOL at the vampires needing to be replaced. Great post, ladies!
Zombies FTW!
I doubt vampires will ever go out of style. They've been in fiction for a looooooooong time.
VERY Helpful post! Really? Vampires are still in? That's something I thought was fading. What issue was that article in? I'm curious about the editors involved.
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